Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Astana Chess: Ukraine, China, Russia - Top Three at Women's World Team Chess Championship 2013

Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich (Click on photo to access official tournament website of the Astana Women's World Team Chess Championship 2013)Congratulations to the Ukraine team (Kateryna Lahno, Anna Ushenina, Mariya Muzychuk, Natalia Zhukova and Inna Gaponenko) for winning the gold at the Astana Women's World Team Chess Championship 2013 with a very steady performance. The premier chess event for women concluded in Kazakhstan with the final round played today.China and Russia were right behind Ukraine and picked up the silver and bronze respectively. The final round witnessed Ukraine drawing their match with Russia and securing the silver. After six rounds, Ukraine had climbed to the top of the table and maintained that lead right till the end. China outplayed India with 2,5-1,5 score in the final round to secure the silver medal. Ju Wenjun defeated Eesha Karavade while other games finished in draws. Georgia won a tough match to beat Kazakhstan in the last round, but could only make it to the fourth place in the standings. Here are the final team standings and board standings. Stay tuned for some great photos from the closing ceremony and a personal post by the 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk on her personal blog www.chessqueen.com. Chess Queen™ Kosteniuk did well to pick up the bronze medal (and precious rating points) on Board 2 with a rating performance of 2502. Also for Russia, IM Valentina Gunina won the bronze medal on Board 1 and WGM Olga Girya obtained the gold medal on Board 5. Also read a nice report on Russia's performance in Lenta.ru (Google translate link so don't worry if you don't know Russian.) Access the official website of the Women's World Team Chess Championship 2013 at this Fide link.